OPINION - Brooks and Capehart 6/11/2021

"Brooks and Capehart on Biden at the G-7 summit, the Justice Department under Trump" PBS NewsHour 6/11/2021

SUMMARY:  New York Times columnist David Brooks and Washington Post columnist Jonathan Capehart join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week in politics, including President Biden at the G-7 summit, the Justice Department under the Trump administration, and how redistricting will impact the nation's political makeup.

Judy Woodruff (NewsHour):  And to the analysis of Brooks and Capehart.  That is New York Times columnist David Brooks, and Jonathan Capehart, columnist for The Washington Post.

And they are in person here with me.

David Brooks, New York Times:  We're here.

(LAUGHTER)

Judy Woodruff:  I can touch you.  Actually, you're in the studio.  This is exciting.  I have got to figure out how I'm going to get through this conversation.

(LAUGHTER)

David Brooks:  It's so weird to be doing it while wearing shoes.

(LAUGHTER)

David Brooks:  Unusual.

(LAUGHTER)

Judy Woodruff:  Exactly, instead of our house slippers.

So much to talk about.

And, Jonathan, let's just quickly pick up with where Dan Bush left off.

Texas, really important decision for them to make about these new districts.  They have got to figure out how to draw those lines.  What is at stake?  With the Congress so evenly divided, what's at stake here?

Jonathan Capehart, Washington Post:  What's at stake is the majority for the Congress, whether the — excuse me — whether the Democrats will maintain their very slim majority or, as a result of redistricting, not just in Texas, but around the country, whether the lines will be drawn in such a way that gives an advantage to Republicans going into the 2022 midterms before a vote has even been cast.

And, you know, with Texas, the influx of people, the population growing, a lot of them in the urban centers that went for Democratic candidates, and yet the way the districts can be drawn, that voting power very well might end up resulting in districts that would be drawn for Republicans to do better in.

Judy Woodruff:  So, what — how can Democrats counter this, David?  How do you see this shaking out, given what's going on in…

David Brooks:  Yes, I think prayer would help.

(LAUGHTER)

David Brooks:  You know, I think the Democrats I talk to want to maintain the House.  They don't expect to.

Jonathan Capehart:  Yes.

David Brooks:  As I would — they would — somebody said, it would take a miracle.

Miracles could happen.  And it could happen.  But in midterm elections, when one party controls both houses of Congress and the White House, then their records in these first midterms tends to be terrible.

And then there's the population shift, which we have been hearing about.  That, by itself, is probably enough to get the Republicans four or five, six, seven seats.  And then there's the redrawing of the lines.  And Republicans just control a lot more state legislatures.

Now, I should say, I'm more focused on population shifts than on gerrymandering, because, while I think these lines, these — the legislatures draw our gross and unwieldy, and it's the politicians selecting the voters, I don't think the effect is that big.

In the middle of the 20th century, you had a big effect where Democrats had a natural advantage, because of the way they drew the lines.  Then, in the early 20th century, the Republicans had a pretty big effect, maybe 20 more seats than you would think from their vote totals.

But, recently, it's been a pretty small effect.  It's been in the single digits.  So — and that's in part because half the states, it's not partisanly drawn.  And so…

Judy Woodruff:  For different reasons.

Jonathan Capehart:  Well, what we have happening here is, it's not just redistricting.  We have what I call a perfect storm brewing.

You have got redistricting, on top of voter laws that have been voted into Georgia, Florida.  Texas, Democrats did a dramatic move to keep their law from going into effect, but a special session will be called, and those laws might well go through.  Iowa.  Arizona.

And so those laws being put in place.  Democrats call them voter suppression laws.  They will keep people, primarily Black and brown people, the young, from getting out to vote.  Not every — not every eligible voter will be able to vote and not — every legally cast vote might not be counted.  And that's what's at danger — in danger as well.

Judy Woodruff:  And all this getting more attention.  Usually, we're waiting for census data, waiting to see what each state does, certainly in the spotlight.

Let's turn, David, to our lead tonight.  And that is President Biden in Europe meeting with the British prime minister, meeting with his counterparts in the so-called G7.

What is — why does this trip matter for him?  What does he need to do?

David Brooks:  Well, he needs to show that America is back.  And he — and back and cooperating with people.  And I have traveled on delegations he's made to Munich to the Security Conference they have there.  And what you see is, he's on first-name basis with everybody, like, with the world leaders, with the doormen in the hotel.  He's been doing it for so long.  And so I think there's a little of that personal diplomacy.

And I think they're proud of the fact they got this vaccine thing done.  I spoke to a White House official today.  And they said the last four weeks have really been a sprint to get this, so we could offer half-a-billion vaccines and get our allies to another…

Judy Woodruff:  Huge number.

David Brooks:  ....  another half-a-billion.

And that will all be done by the middle of the next year.  And so they are surprised they could get to this.  They thought we would not be in a state where we had so many vaccines, we would have enough to buy and then share with the world.  And I think they want to show that we're in the generosity business again, and that America can be a generous nation in the world, a little Marshall Plan.

And I think they'd love to get to a spot where it's not a nation-by-nation fight against COVID.  It's a little more of an interdependent global fight against COVID.  And so they're pleased with that.

They are under no illusions that American-European relations are going to go back to the way they used to be in the Cold War.  That's not going to happen.  But they're very pleased, and I think legitimately so.

Judy Woodruff:  How do you see the way — what is at stake for Biden and his agenda here and globally?

Jonathan Capehart:  Well, I think, to your point, the President knows all of these people.  He was a senator for 36 years, Vice President for eight years.

Yes, he is on a first-name basis.  His mantra is, America is back.  But there's a piece in, I think it was The Times of London asking the question, OK, but do the words match the deeds?

And I do think that there's some skepticism in Europe about whether the President's focus on China, whether that's taking attention away from them, whether the President, President Biden, is continuing former President Trump's policies vis-a-vis China.  Think of tariffs.

Judy Woodruff:  Yes.

Jonathan Capehart:  And then other things that Vice President Biden is doing that former President Trump talked about, withdrawing from Afghanistan.

So I think what we're seeing, yes, it's not going to go back to the way it was.  And I do think that the world now is, like, they're happy the United States is back in the fold, but I think they have figured out over the last four years, we can't really depend on the United States, especially when it comes to — President Biden's mantra is also democracy.  We have to show that democracy works.

But those world leaders are watching what we're doing here, the last conversation we had about voting rights.  How can you have a democracy if voting rights are at risk?

Judy Woodruff:  So, it's — David, it's the pandemic that has shifted the landscape, of course, but it's also the Trump — the four years of Donald Trump.

David Brooks:  Yes, PTSD, they have got, whatever, post-traumatic Trump is.

(LAUGHTER)

David Brooks:  They wonder if this four years is an interregnum, and that Trump will be back.  They wonder if a Trump-like figure will be back.

And so they — there's some sense America's fundamentally less stable.  And then we are more America first.  I mean, Biden is not as America first as Trump was, but you look at our purchasing decisions as a government, it's America first.  And we're just living in a world where multilateral cooperation is less emphasized, frankly, from a lot of countries all at once.

And that has just been a trend of the last 25 years, as nationalism has become a stronger force in the world and across the West and in Asia.  And, somehow, there's just been a deterioration in our willingness to cooperate on a whole range of fronts.

Judy Woodruff:  Harder, in other words.

Jonathan, I hear you saying this is harder than one might have expected coming out of Trump and — President Trump and assuming everything's going to be easier for President Biden globally.

Jonathan Capehart:  Right, harder.

But I think, from President Biden's perspective, for someone who knows all of these people, I think he's counting on and banking on the fact that those relationships will help smooth over some of the harder things that they have to deal with.

And you know what?  If I were President Biden, I would think that my chances, my odds were good, not great, but good.

David Brooks:  We have been on a lot of calls with Biden administration officials, and they're weirdly normal.  It's like democracy is in crisis, the world's falling apart.

(LAUGHTER)

David Brooks:  But they're like as if it's like 1955.  It's like, no, no, no, everything — we will cooperate, we will compromise, we will have these civil discussions.

And I don't know if they're just putting that face on that we live in a normal world anymore, but they're very normal.

Jonathan Capehart:  I think they would probably say — yes, they are very normal.

But I what I take from that is, you know what?  These are people who are competent.  They have been in these jobs before.  They know what the pitfalls are.  And they also know that everything is on fire, but at least they know the terrain.

Judy Woodruff:  Well, speaking of everything being on fire, David, in the last few days, we have learned that the Trump administration was trying in a number of ways that we find now surprising to seize data from not just journalists — and that's been in the news — but Democratic members of Congress, going after their cell phone records, the data, and their family members, even children.

We have now got an investigation under way.  What does this tell us about what was going on under President Trump?

David Brooks:  Yes, the Trump Justice Department keeps looking worse and worse, even more — worse than it was when it was in office.

When there's a leak of confidential information, there's going to be an investigation.  We understand that.  But they tried an investigation.  They didn't dig up anything on the people they wanted to get, Adam Schiff and people like that.

And so they relaunched another investigation using extremely aggressive means.  And prosecutors or investigators have some discretion over how aggressive they're going to be.  And I would say they got so aggressive, not only so aggressive, that it's super invasive to those of us in the media and people in Congress.

But it just looks like a political witch-hunt.  And Donald Trump is out there in public saying Adam Schiff should be investigated.  And, lo and behold, the people in the Justice Department take political orders.  And that's not what they're supposed to do.  The Justice Department, it's never pure, but it's always supposed to be a step removed from politics, so we have some sense of justice.

Judy Woodruff:  Is this something, Jonathan, that President Trump can be held accountable for, ultimately?  I mean…

Jonathan Capehart:  I mean, that, I don't know.  I mean, I really don't know.  I can't see — as much as everyone — and I shouldn't say everyone — a lot of Democrats and people who had a lot of problems with Donald Trump, they would love to be able to say, oh, this is what's going to take them down, meaning send him to jail, hold him accountable.

I'm not sure.  But, again, I'm not surprised.  It's sort of like you're shocked, but you're not shocked, because we watched this in real time.  The one thing about Donald Trump, he allowed our imaginations to go wild, because, if you let them go wild, you actually kind of know what's happening.

And this story, to my mind, is that situation of, when you're imagining — when reality catches up with your imagination.

Judy Woodruff:  He was publicly going after Adam Schiff.

Jonathan Capehart:  Right.

Judy Woodruff:  He was speaking about him, tweeting about him.  Eric Swalwell.  Well, I mean, these are — but to be using your Justice Department, the Justice Department that belongs to the American people, this way…

Jonathan Capehart:  Look, I would hope, I would hope, if proof is found that he directly ordered the Attorney General to do these things, then, absolutely, he should be held accountable.

But I don't see — I just don't see it happening at this point right now, given what we know.

Judy Woodruff:  Well, one thing's for sure.  We are thrilled that the two of you are here in the studio.

(LAUGHTER)

Judy Woodruff:  And I know everybody watching is too.

Jonathan Capehart, David Brooks, thank you.

(CROSSTALK)

David Brooks:  It's good to be with you, Judy.

(CROSSTALK)

Judy Woodruff:  Thank you both.  Really good to see you both.  Thank you.

OPINION - Shields and Brooks 6/15/2018

"Shields and Brooks on North Korea summit takeaways, Trump’s family separation policy" PBS NewsHour 6/15/2018

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week’s news, including President Trump’s summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the conclusions of a watchdog report into the FBI’s handling of the Hillary Clinton email probe, the politics of the Trump administration separating families at the U.S. border, and more.

Judy Woodruff (NewsHour):  And now to the analysis of Shields and Brooks.  That’s syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks.

Welcome to both of you.

Let’s start with what happened this week on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.

David, the President met, historic meeting, Kim Jong Un, the leader of North Korea.  The President comes away saying there’s no more nuclear threat, he’s got very good personal chemistry, personal relationship with Mr. Kim.

What’s your take?

David Brooks, New York Times:  I read a joke this week that the lion can lie down with the lamb, but you got to get a new lamb each day.

So, I give him more credit than a lot other people that I’m reading.  We were — and people who really knew the North Korean situation were terrified six, eight, 10 months ago that we were really heading in a bad direction and things — there was some danger of things spinning out of control.

And now that doesn’t seem to be the case.  Now, there’s — tensions have settled.  There seems to be no risk of any confrontation or war.  And so, to me, that’s the big story, and that’s the lead and that’s a good thing.

Now, once you get down to the second and third paragraph, it begins to deteriorate quickly.  And the things Trump said about the regime, calling a murderous dictator a tough guy, that’s horrific.

The way human rights are treated, the way he just flippantly tossed off the practice, the war games, is horrific.  But, to me, those are serious deficits.  He did a good thing in the worst possible way.

Judy Woodruff:  What’s your take, Mark?

Mark Shields, syndicated columnist:  Well, Judy, quite frankly, a few months ago, you had two major powers flexing their nuclear biceps and issuing threats, serious threats, to each other, and we thought we were on the edge of war.

We’re not today.  That’s good.  I have no idea what’s in it — I don’t know anybody else who does — in the agreement.  The President has assured us there’s no longer…

Judy Woodruff:  Well, there’s not an agreement yet.

Mark Shields:  There’s not an agreement, but in the documents.

But to treat North Korea as this — this is a regime that stands alone in the world, for hundreds of thousands of people being exterminated, that has consistently, as a matter of policy, used rape and forcible abortions and starvation on its own people.  Hundreds of thousands of people have been exterminated.

And for the President to blithely — I’m not, you know, insisting that human rights be the centerpiece, but it has been important in every American element of foreign policy over the last generations.  I mean, from Jimmy Carter to Ronald Reagan, it’s been central.

And human rights — the United States didn’t invent human rights, but, as Carter said, human rights, to a great degree, did invent America.  And the President is blithely indifferent to that…

(CROSSTALK)

David Brooks:  It’s also as a foil to what happened in Europe or in Quebec with the G7 the week before.

And you see him with two different sorts of relationships.  With somebody like Putin or with somebody like Kim Jong Un, it’s like dictator to dictator.  It’s like, we understand how to deal with power relationships.  He feels comfortable in that kind of thing.

When he’s dealing with Trudeau or Merkel, it should be friends, and it should be a relationship on affection and mutual trust and reciprocity.  And he’s a little uncomfortable in those circumstances.

Judy Woodruff:  How do you explain that?

David Brooks:  Well, I think, through his business life, he’s not had a series of relationships based on friendship, trust, and reciprocity, and affection.

He’s had relationships based strictly on self-interest and the urge to dominate.  And he just feels comfortable in one kind of relationship.  And, frankly, that’s even true within his White House.  He has relationships based on who’s useful to who, not we are a band of brothers in this together.

Judy Woodruff:  But, at this point, Mark, your point is that at least we’re not — we don’t think we’re on the verge of war.

Mark Shields:  No, we aren’t.  And I think that’s good.  I think that’s a positive.

Churchill said it far better and shorter, that jaw, jaw, jaw is better than war, war, war.  And I think that’s true.

TRUMP AGENDA - Kiss a Dictator's Ass, Trash Our Allies

While Trump bows and scrapes to Dictator Kim Jong Un, at home he......

"Trump steps up attacks on Canada, key ally and largest U.S. export market" PBS NewsHour 6/11/2018

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  After leaving the G-7 summit in Quebec early, President Trump withdrew from the group's joint statement on trade and blasted Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as "dishonest" for criticizing the U.S. tariffs and moving to retaliate.  As Lisa Desjardins reports, a key relationship for both sides is at risk.

"White House: Trump frustrated with lack of NAFTA progress with Canada" PBS NewsHour 6/11/2018

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  President Trump has grown frustrated with Canada on a lack of progress in crafting a new NAFTA agreement, says Marc Short, director of legislative affairs for the Trump administration.  Short sits down with Judy Woodruff to discuss reactions to the G-7 summit, the President’s focus on Canada and more.

"Trump cherry-picking tariff fights and uniting allies against U.S., analyst says" PBS NewsHour 6/11/2018

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  President Trump came into office insisting that the U.S. wouldn't be taken advantage of, by allies or adversaries.  What do we learn from the most recent rancor at the G-7?  Judy Woodruff gets analysis on Trump’s trade complaints from Ian Bremmer of the Eurasia Group.

OPINION - Shields and Ponnuru 6/8/2018

"Shields and Ponnuru on G7 trade tensions, Trump-Kim summit expectations" PBS NewsHour 6/8/2018

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and Ramesh Ponnuru of The National Review join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week’s news, including tensions between the U.S. and allies at the G7 summit, as well as President Trump’s comments that Russia should be welcomed back, the upcoming North Korea summit between Trump and Kim Jong Un, and takeaways from the biggest primary night of the year.

Judy Woodruff (NewsHour):  Now, from the words of a former President to news of the current President abroad.

We get the analysis of Shields and Ponnuru.  That’s syndicated columnist Mark Shields and Ramesh Ponnuru of “The National Review.”  David Brooks is away.

And it’s great to see both of you.  Thank you for being here.

I want to ask you about something we just heard from James Patterson, the writer.

And that is, Mark, he was talking about we need to take the people we elect to office seriously.  There is so much criticism of them.  They have been run down by all the — just the flood of criticism that they get.  He said, when you go to the polls to vote, remember, they’re not silly, they’re not villains.

What do you make of that?

Mark Shields, syndicated columnist:  Well, they have been run down in large part by people who have replaced them.  That’s been a recurring theme, particularly among conservative insurgents, but not exclusively, running against Washington, running against politicians.

I think Mr.  Patterson’s exposure to President Clinton is probably, in part — I mean, Bill Clinton, let it be noted, came to office at the time with the steepest budget deficits in the history of the country, and courageously raised taxes on the richest 1.4 percent of Americans, and produced an economy that produced 22 million new jobs, after we had the lowest economic growth in 50 years when he came in.

So, and then he left at 65 percent approval.  And today he’s way below that.  So there’s a certain lack of appreciation, you could say, of certainly…

Judy Woodruff:  For Bill Clinton.

Mark Shields:  For Bill Clinton.  And I think that may be reflected in Mr. Patterson’s exposure to him.  And it’s certainly expressed in the President’s own behavior and speeches.

Judy Woodruff:  Ramesh, is it possible to get people to think differently about politicians?

Ramesh Ponnuru, The National Review:  I think it is going to be tricky.

I think what James Patterson was getting at was the distinction between the job or institution of the Presidency, and our fixation on the personality and the pageantry of the Presidency.

The Presidency has gotten more and more powerful in American government, and we depend much more than we used to on the professionalism and competence of the President fulfilling the job.

But, at the same time, the cultural footprint’s gotten bigger, too, and that has made us more interested in all of the drama of the Presidency.  That’s what Presidents are rewarded these days for playing to.

G7 2018 SUMMIT - Trump Continues to Make America Irrelevant

"Expect a contentious G7 amid Trump’s escalating trade battle" PBS NewsHour 6/7/2018

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Diplomatic pleasantries on Thursday didn’t mask the widening rift between the U.S. and its closest allies over new tariffs that threaten to spark a trade war.  Yamiche Alcindor joins Judy Woodruff to offer a preview of the G7 Summit in Canada.

"Trump keeps G7 attendance short at tense summit" PBS NewsHour 6/8/2018

Where Trump attempts to pay back his debt to Putin by saying Russia should be reinstated as a member.  After all, Putin got Trump elected.

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  The Group of Seven convened their Canadian summit in an atmosphere of argument over President Trump's trade demands.  Before arriving, Trump had argued that Russia should return to the G7.  At the summit, a suddenly canceled meeting with the French President Emmanuel Macron reflected the wider tensions between the allies.  Yamiche Alcindor joins Judy Woodruff from Quebec.